Hi Reader,

Rooted Respite turned one year old at the end of August, and I can hardly believe it. Honestly, I was worried this would end up like so many other projects I started and abandoned after a few months, but that hasn't been the case. For all of my neurodivergent brain's trouble with consistency, something about Rooted Respite feels different.

After one year of check-ins, monthly support calls, and community building with folks on the front lines of social change, I feel confident saying that Rooted Respite is different.

The difference, Reader, is you. Your participation, attention, feedback, insights, questions, fears, joys, concerns, and love guide this work. Because of you, Rooted Respite is truly a community endeavor.

I know how fast I can go alone. I'm stoked to see how far we can go together.

Building relationships based on trust and healing takes time and the willingness to recognize we can't know everything. This is how we shift our culture from transactional relationships towards the slow, intentional work of community care. This work can only be done together. To quote Michael Franti (probably quoting someone else), "People need people."​

I'm excited to dig deeper with you this coming year. I plan to hold more frequent workshops and expand my content offerings, including bringing back monthly emails containing news, updates, and events like this one.

I hesitate to put a timeline on anything else because... well... did I mention my brain's challenges with consistency? Each of us is on a journey; learning to work with my brain's quirks and needs is mine.

In the meantime, I hope you'll check out what's happening below: workshops on the horizon and a list of resources to help deepen your liberation practice.

Thanks for reading!

Peace,

Taj

Events, News, & Updates

News/Updates Introducing the Rooted Respite Workshop Series Y'all have spoken, and I am listening. Introducing the Rooted Respite workshop series! Each month, I'll choose a workshop topic based on your questions. These will be low-cost events with a limited number of free spots for folks needing that extra care.

Workshop Dare to Be Still Tuesday, September 10 | 7-8 pm EST Sliding Scale: $5-$25 (Limited number of free tickets available. Contact us for the access code.) Join us in exploring stillness as a powerful foundation for personal transformation and collective liberation. Reconnect to your innate wisdom, disconnect from the noise of everyday life, and return to the vision of liberation you have for yourself and the world. Save your seat!

Near Future Events

• Community Support Call
  ​September 28, 3-4 EST: Sign up for all upcoming calls​
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• Community Support Call
  ​October 25, 3-4 pm EST: Sign up for all upcoming calls​
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• Grief & Liberation: What We Lose When We Choose to Resist
  ​October 29, 7-8 pm EST: Registration link forthcoming

Book of the Month

This section contains links to Rooted Respite's affiliate store on Bookshop.org, where I receive a small commission from each sale. This is another way to support this work!

This Here Flesh By Cole Arthur Riley Reading this book is like a breath of fresh air seeping into my bone marrow. Riley's words affirm something in me that yearns to be known yet remains unseen. Riley's short narratives tell the story of her spiritual life through the wisdom of family and lineage, nature and place. This is one I'll keep coming back to. If you decide to read it, or have already read it, let me know! I'd love to talk about it with someone. Check it out

Resource Roundup

A collection of resources from around the web to help deepen your liberation practice:

Rest is Not Resistance, and That is OK – Scalawag ​Trey Washington invites us not to stop at individual acts of rest as resistance but to think about how our individual rest contributes to the shared responsibility of collective liberation.

Ease, Joy, and Gratitude Workbook from Embraced Body (shared with permission) ​If you don't know about India Harville's work, you should absolutely check her out at embracedbody.com. She is an African American, queer, disabled/chronically ill, femme, cis woman on a mission to help people reconnect with their bodies. Her identities inform her work as a disability justice advocate and consultant, somatics practitioner, and performance artist.

When Meaningful Work Backfires | TIME ​This article from Time Magazine details how "passion work" can lead us deeper into burnout.

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